ALS Research Grants Announced

ALS CANADA AWARDS $3 MILLION FOR 12 NEW RESEARCH PROJECTS;

2017 funding competition completes $20 million research partnership with the Brain Canada Foundation following the Ice Bucket Challenge

TORONTO, November 22, 2017 – Today, the ALS Society of Canada announced 12 exciting new research
projects being funded in 2017 through the ALS Canada Research Program, which is supported by ALS
Societies across Canada. The research being funded includes a multi-year study of a promising drug
combination, three trainee grants that will help to nurture the next generation of Canadian ALS
researchers currently pursuing their PhDs, two projects that explore how ALS treatments could be
delivered through the bloodstream, and an initiative that seeks to understand why the muscles of the
eyes are often more resistant to ALS as other muscle groups shut down. The announcement was made
in partnership with the Brain Canada Foundation, which through the Canada Brain Research Fund (with
financial support from Health Canada) is co-funding the largest grant of $1.8 million through matching
funds committed following the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Approximately 3,000 Canadians are living with ALS, a disease that paralyzes the body, taking away the
ability to move, talk, swallow and eventually breathe. Each year about 1,000 Canadians are diagnosed
with the disease and a similar number die. Most people die within two to five years of their ALS
diagnosis because the disease has no cure and few treatment options.

“ALS is an incredibly complex disease, but the research community is making tremendous headway and
has come very far with very little in comparison to annual funding levels of diseases that have treatment
options,” says Dr. David Taylor, Vice President of Research, ALS Canada. “For the ALS Canada Research
Program this has only been possible because of the generosity of donors, partnerships with provincial
ALS Societies across Canada, and organizations like Brain Canada, which by matching donations made
through the Ice Bucket Challenge has essentially doubled Canada’s ALS research investment over the
past several years.”

Combined with research grants jointly awarded by ALS Canada and Brain Canada in 2015 and 2016, the
grants awarded in 2017 are putting to work the $20 million earmarked for Canadian ALS research
following the Ice Bucket Challenge that in 2014 raised unprecedented awareness for the disease and
funds for ALS charities including ALS Societies across Canada. With Brain Canada’s commitment of
matched funds now complete, the ALS Canada Research Program will soon return to its historic funding
levels with $1.5 million to $2 million in research grants awarded each year.

“Canadians responded generously to the Ice Bucket Challenge, and by matching the $10 million
earmarked for research through our partnership with Health Canada, Brain Canada doubled the impact
of this generosity,” said Inez Jabalpurwala, President and CEO, Brain Canada Foundation. “Since 2015, in
partnership with the ALS Canada Research Program, we have funded 20 grants for novel, outside-the box
research; nine grants for collaborative, translational research projects that will move discovery from
the lab to the clinic; and five grants that enable the next generation of researcher professors to start or
continue research in promising areas of investigation. While the focus of all these research investments
remains ALS, Brain Canada has brought its one system approach, whereby researchers from other areas
were encouraged to apply their knowledge, and every discovery carries the potential to impact other
neurodegenerative disorders which share common underlying mechanisms with ALS.”

Of the research grants announced today, the $1.8-million project co-funded by ALS Canada and Brain
Canada will seek to find out whether a promising drug combination can address misfolded proteins, one
of the defining biological characteristics of ALS. It was awarded to a research team led by Dr. Heather
Durham from McGill University, with collaborators Dr. Josephine Nalbantoglu (McGill University); Dr.
Richard Robitaille (Université de Montréal), and Dr. Chantelle Sephton (Université Laval).

The other 11 projects were funded through the ALS Canada Research Program through two different
grant competitions as a direct result of donations and partnerships with ALS Societies across Canada
including 40% of net proceeds from the WALK for ALS fundraising events that take places across the
country.

The research being funded in 2017 seeks to answer the following questions that will help to move us
from greater understanding of ALS to the development of therapies for human use:

• Can adjusting the levels of a “guardian” protein protect a protein that becomes toxic in most cases
of ALS?

$125,000 awarded to Dr. Marco Prado with collaborators Dr. Martin Duennwald and Dr. Flavio Beraldo, all from Western University.

• Can image-guided focused ultrasound technology be used safely in people living with ALS as ameans of delivering future treatment?

• Can microscopic bubbles in our bodies be used to deliver ALS treatments through the bloodstream?

$125,000 awarded to Dr. Derrick Gibbings with collaborators Dr. Baptiste Lacoste and Dr. Maxim Berezovski, all from the University of Ottawa

• Could targeting the activity of motor neurons in the spinal cord be a new way to diagnose and
treat ALS?

$125,000 awarded to Dr. Yves De Koninck, Université Laval

• Could the change in communication processes between motor neurons and the immune cells of
the nervous system after an ALS diagnosis help to identify new treatment targets?

$124,930 awarded to Dr. Stefano Stifani, McGill University

• Could touchscreen technology help to improve testing for the cognitive impairment that occurs in
some cases of ALS?

$110,770 awarded to Dr. Flavio Beraldo with collaborators Dr. Marco Prado and Dr. Vania Prado, all from Western University

• Could whole genome sequencing reveal new areas of genetic mutations that make some people
more likely to develop ALS?

$75,000 awarded to Jay Ross, a PhD student in Dr. Guy Rouleau’s lab at McGill University

• How might misfolded proteins that occur in ALS cause cells to die?

$50,000 awarded to Sonja Di Gregorio, a PhD student in Dr. Martin Duennwald’s lab at Western University

• What can we learn from mice that are able to walk almost normally despite significant loss of
motor neuron function?

$125,000 awarded to Dr. Turgay Akay, Dalhousie University

• Why are eye muscles more resistant to ALS, and what can we learn about this that could help to
preserve the function and use of other muscles?

$121, 048 awarded to Dr. Richard Robitaille with collaborator Danielle Arbour, both from Université de Montréal

• Will probiotics that improve ALS symptoms in worms also work in mice?

$75,000 awarded to Audrey Labarre, a PhD student in Alex Parker’s lab at the Université de Montréal

The funding of these 12 research projects follows a rigorous scientific assessment by global ALS experts
who evaluated a larger pool of applications to identify the projects that are grounded in scientific
excellence and have the potential to most quickly advance the field of ALS research in order to develop
effective treatments. The scientific evaluation was observed by people who have personal experience
with ALS.

About Canada’s ALS Societies and the ALS Canada Research Program
ALS Societies across Canada fundraise on a regional basis to provide services and support to people and
families living with ALS in their province and contribute to the funding of the ALS Canada Research
Program. The ALS Canada Research Program funds peer-reviewed research grants and fosters
collaboration amongst Canadian researchers, helping to nurture new ideas and build capacity. ALS
Societies advocate federally, provincially and locally on behalf of people and families living with ALS for
better government support and access within the healthcare system.

About Brain Canada and the Canada Brain Research Fund
Brain Canada is a national registered charity headquartered in Montreal, that enables and supports
excellent, innovative, paradigm-changing brain research in Canada. For more nearly two decades, Brain
Canada has made the case for the brain as a single, complex system with commonalities across the
range of neurological disorders, mental illnesses and addictions, brain and spinal cord injuries. Looking
at the brain as one system has underscored the need for increased collaboration across disciplines and
institutions, and a smarter way to invest in brain research that is focused on outcomes that will benefit
patients and families. Brain Canada’s vision is to understand the brain, in health and illness, to improve
lives and achieve societal impact.

The Canada Brain Research Fund is a public-private partnership between the Government of Canada and
Brain Canada, designed to encourage Canadians to increase their support of brain research, and
maximize the impact and efficiency of those investments. Brain Canada and its partners have committed
to raising $120 million, which is being matched by Health Canada on a 1:1 basis for a total of $240
million. For more information, visit www.braincanada.ca.